WARE — At the crack of dawn nearly every day, Jana Hayden, a baker in Ware, is answering texts and sending emails before she gets out of bed. She hasn’t even had her first cup of coffee — such is the growing demand for the cupcakes and baked goods she makes in the family kitchen.
EAST LONGMEADOW — It’s been said, if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. As an editor and writer with Reminder Publishing in East Longmeadow, Debbie Gardner, 67, loves what she does and can’t believe she’s being saluted for doing it well into her 60s.
SPRINGFIELD — When Joe Austin, 33, was in college, he thought he was the big man on campus, because his father told him he was. After taking advanced courses at his high school in North Carolina, Austin was convinced he would earn all A’s when he went to Boston University.
SPRINGFIELD — When Wall Street hedge fund executive Angelene Huang was asked if she could help turn around the failing Springfield Commonwealth Academy, she agreed to take a look at the property on Ames Hill Drive. The college preparatory school educates children in grades 6-12.
PITTSFIELD — For the first time in his life, Tristyn Borden, 17, cares about what he’ll look like when he goes back to school this year. He’ll be a senior at Mill Pond School in Richmond, just outside of Pittsfield.